Ex-officer found guilty in wife's slaying

Former Bradenton Police officer Thomas Fleming was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife.

ELIZABETH JOHNSON

Thomas Fleming says he was planning to kill himself on Oct. 1, 2012. He was fed up with marital problems he was experiencing with his wife, Claire, and was ready to end it.

The 69-year-old testified in court Wednesday that he went so far as to hold the .38-caliber revolver to his head.

“I made up my mind what I was going to do,” Fleming said. “I decided I was going to blow myself up in front of her.”

Fleming said maybe he was looking for attention. He had considered suicide before, but his wife always calmed him.

“My wife's a saint,” Fleming said, referring to his late wife in the present tense. “She is the best thing I've ever had.”

This time was different.

“She said: 'Go ahead,' ” Fleming said. “I just exploded.”

Fleming turned the gun on his wife, shooting her twice; both bullets entered her brain.

After two days at trial and approximately two-and-a-half hours of deliberation, a jury found Fleming guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm.

Fleming's son, who has been in the courtroom throughout the proceedings, dropped his head into his hands — someone else patted him on the shoulders. The family, who declined to speak with reporters, appeared relieved following the verdict.

Fleming showed no reaction when the verdict was read.

Fleming's attorney, Walter Smith, argued the crime occurred in a “heat of passion,” asking jurors to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter.

But they upheld the charge argued by Assistant State Attorney Art Brown that carries a sentence range of 25 years to life in prison.

Fleming, who opted to take the stand, described his 45-year marriage to Claire. They were happy, with occasional challenges. But as they got older, he said Claire would become upset with him more frequently, asking him to temporarily leave their Bradenton home for a residence in Lake Placid.

But that differed from testimonies given Tuesday by family members, who portrayed Fleming as a controlling husband.

Brown entered into evidence a recording from the patrol vehicle in which Fleming was detained after the shooting that he said showed that alpha personality as he told deputies over and over again to take off his handcuffs, loosen the restraints and take him to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Brown said three words said by Fleming: " — you, Claire,” showed that even after Fleming killed Claire he felt ill-will toward her. Second-degree murder requires proof that the killer harbored ill-will, hatred or spite.

Brown said no evidence — aside from Fleming's testimony — shows that Claire Fleming urged her husband to kill himself. And even if the evidence existed, he said marital problems are not enough to create a “heat of passion” argument.

“Reasonable people do not kill over words,” Brown said. “This is the face of murder in Manatee County today.”